Can someone please explain Karl's temper tantrum on election night?

[Hutzpa]

If Karl Rove was not about to steal the election, why was he agitated when the networks called Ohio for Obama?

[Atman]

1. Yes.

It just depends upon the explanation you're looking for.

[Hutzpa]

11. Well for starters there are those

who believe that Karl did not try to influence Ohio results with ORCA, to me he came across as a man trying to prevent the networks from calling Ohio, Did he know something that made him felt it was necessary to prevent an early call?

It is easier to make an argument about this incident when you go back to 2000 election were Florida was called early and was over turned using the same method he pulled on November 6th.

[Atman]

17. ORCA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!

It's Husted's last-minute software patches, for "real time tabulating."

Meanwhile, others chase ORCA out to sea.

[Hutzpa]

18. Well, glad that ORCA was chased back out to sea

otherwise that fish would have swallowed everyone just as it did Jonah, except this time it took Karl Rove with it back to sea.

[intaglio]

25. After the polls closed Fox called early for Bush

The other networks got scared and followed Fox. Bush declared victory.

Then there was the recount process deliberately disrupted by the Republicans , notably the Palm Beach recount by the Brooks Brothers "riot" and eventually a partisan Supreme Court stopped the recount allowing Katherine Harris to certify the State's votes in favour of Bush.

Yes, Harris and Jeb did suppress the vote but it did not work, what was probably more critical was the ending of voter pairing (which would have moved Naderite votes into Gore's camp in Florida).

[hrmjustin]

2. Because at the time of the call the numbers in OH were almost tied. But what he did not pay

attention to was the fact that the rest of the vote out was mostly from dem areas of OH. He shut up when VA and CO came in for Obama. What it means is up for grabs.

[elleng]

3. I only saw it today, sure wasn't watching faux that night.

I don't consider it a 'temper tantrum.' He thought the results would be different, pressed faux to wait for more results, but was not 'nuts;' was as insistent as he could be, but was polite.

His REASON for expecting different result may be as many believe, a 'fix,' and I don't challenge that possibility, but I don't consider his behavior to have been a temper tantrum.

[MrSlayer]

4. What tantrum?

I keep hearing references to a "meltdown" and tantrums but I've yet to see footage of anything other than him just saying it was too early to call. Did I miss something?

[doc03]

8. I never saw any tantrum either, it's like the Dean

scream it killed his campaign and I didn't see what was supposed to be so bad. The media made out like he went bat shit crazy.

[elleng]

10. ditto

[doc03]

5. He thought the fix was in. What I am worried about is what

Dick Morris is going to do now. He hasn't been right on anything since he left the Clinton administration. How do you make a living being a political expert when you are always wrong?

[ProudProgressiveNow]

7. +1 nt

[The Magistrate]

6. He Believes His Own Press, Sir

A flaw in an strategist....

[susanna]

21. Thank you, Sir.

It wasn't really that bad. My instinct, at the time, is that he just hated what he was hearing. Imagine: all of his last decade's power was slipping out of his slimy little hands with every state that went for the President, and he was honestly agitated at his beliefs being challenged in such an unforgiving, public, and irrefutable way.

[CreekDog]

29. that was so much like an on-air intervention that I half expected to see Dr. Phil

[rightsideout]

9. A $300 million dollar investment was on the line

I was watching Fox at the time he threw his tantrum and it was great! He kept saying the votes are still coming in, as he refreshed his screen.

But I actually kind of agreed with Rove. I was surprised they called it as early as they did.

I'm not the only one. Apparently, President Obama was also surprised when it was called.

As far as his temper tantrum, I guess it depends on what you believe. If you are a "Vote Flipper" believer, Rove was sure the votes would flip Romney's way and when they didn't he had a tantrum.

Or Romney was just plain outvoted and the bubble Rove had blown up with Super PAC $$$ and dilusional internal polling popped right there on the air.

I thought it was great when Megyn "What's Her Face" went down to the election room to find out the results herself. The election guys there said there was no way Romney could pull it off with the final numbers coming in. It was cool hearing those guys share the reality "Live" that Romney had lost. Hence, his reaction when it didn't work out like he wanted. LOL

[Hutzpa]

14. "I was surprised they called it as early as they did."

We can also make the same argument for all those red states that was called early. We did not see him asked the network double check or to keep refreshing their page when red states were called for Romney? Why Ohio?

[rightsideout]

20. He sure was focused on Ohio

I can't recall what the order of swing state votes were coming in. When all was said and done Obama could have won without Ohio but Rove sure was pretty focused there.

If he was expecting the votes to flip in Ohio, that obviously didn't happen. That could explain his reaction. He was expecting a repeat of what happened to Kerry's votes in Ohio when they flipped for Bush after the server went down and came back up. At the time Kerry was winning. Then there was a computer mishap. When they came back up Bush was ahead. Rove was probably expecting the same thing as he kept refreshing his screen.

That is all conjecture and I'm not even sure I have the history right.

I think the reality is, the ground game the Obama campaign had going was more effective then Rove and the Romney perceived. Like an effective ground game in football. The Romney campaign wasn't effective against the ground game and Rove wasn't prepared for it and he was in denial like the other person just said.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. He was in denial

He even admitted right then and there, it was likely inevitable.

[Nevernose]

13. It was planned

Fox had the cameras in the hallway, ready to follow the spontaneously consoling Meagan Fox. The whole meltdown was scripted for Faux "News."

[Hutzpa]

15. That's absurd

since I did not see your sarcasm I had to say your explanation of fox planning the whole thing is absurd. Faux that wanted Obama out more than any other corporation?

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

31. The cameras would have been directed out there as the plan was announced to go ask the men whose

job it was to call the results if they really meant to call the results. It doesn't take long. Someone else said Megan Kelly siad something about having done that in rehearsal, but I never heard that. Maybe jut not in the cut I saw.

[pepperbear]

16. All the $$$$$$ that went flying out the window. that's it. seriously.

[thelordofhell]

19. He knew that a loss would mean his eventual irrelevancy.............

[backscatter712]

22. He's afraid he's gonna wake up with a horse's head in his bed... n/t

[Zorra]

23. Well, we definitely know that things did not work out according to plan for poor ol' Karl.

I suppose we can safely say that this is true.

[MrsBrady]

24. because his world was beginning to crumble

when all that money couldn't win an election.

and all the voter suppression crap didn't work, because enough Democrats
turned out.

He was screwed and threw a tantrum when he realized that he freaking LOST...
much like a two year old who throws a tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants...

that's my opinion anyway, for what it's worth.

[polichick]

26. Who knows? But I wouldn't put anything past Rove...

If he was capable of stealing an election, he wouldn't hesitate.

[struggle4progress]

27. He thought Republican voter suppression and nasty Republican ads

would overcome Democratic GOTV

He was wrong, but he's an arrogant ill-tempered schizzlehead, so he has tantrums when he's wrong

[99th_Monkey]

28. Rove's mind was blown because ANONYMOUS blocked his vote-buggery

with a magic firewall, encoded with a secret password that Rove, et. al.
attempted to guess over 100 times and finally just gave up. What you
saw on FOX was this reality sinking in, and frying Rove's brain.

Here's some random links about it. Some peeps are frothing at the mouth,
about this, for reasons I'm still figured out as I type this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101781005
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251252492
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1850942
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1854031

[CreekDog]

30. I don't think he had anything lined up or any special knowledge.

for starters, if he had it all fixed, then why

1) did he not know that Ohio was not going his way
2) why did he make a stink about Ohio when even if it went his way, Romney would still lose? why didn't he know that?
3) if he was so connected that he could flip an election, why could he only get one state, the reddest of the swing states to go his way?
4) if he could flip votes and make it look plausible, why couldn't he even get the Cuban vote in Miami to go Republican, with a Republican mayor, with Rick Scott and with voting officials who stymied voters at every turn to depress Democratic turnout? if he'd swung the Cuban vote by 7 or 8 points, it wouldn't have been detected easily and Florida might have gone the other way...if he's the wizard everyone thinks he is here, why couldn't he pull that off?

I'm not saying an election can't be stolen, but was the fix in on this one? Doubtful based on everything we've seen.

[LeftishBrit]

32. Perhaps he was worried that some Republican donor might punch him in the face?

Can make someone cross, if they've just spent a few million for nothing.

[cali]

33. yes, because the only explanation has to be that he was planning to steal the election

Let's see: How about he was upset because he had flushed hundreds of millions and ruined his reputation is the circles where his bread is buttered?

Thinking that there is only one possible explanation (the one that fits with one's own biases) is not exactly an example of critical thinking.

Yikes. Sad to see so much of this.

[HopeHoops]

34. Simple - he's a fucking asshole.